Curiosity
Sanno Hotel Site
- Hours
- The Sanno Hotel no longer exists; Sanno Park Tower, an office building completed in 2000, occupies the site.
- Price
- No current price found.
- How to visit
- This is a historical site, not a preserved hotel or museum. The current building is an office complex; visitor access inside was not confirmed.
- Hours
- About 15 min
Why it is worth the detour
The Sanno Hotel, replaced by Sanno Park Tower, became a principal rebel stronghold after the assassinations and occupation of central Tokyo. Soldiers barricaded themselves in the fashionable hotel while loyal forces gathered outside and imperial orders transformed the self-styled reformers into officially condemned rebels.
The Sanno Hotel site, now occupied by Sanno Park Tower, was a key location during the February 26 Incident in Tokyo. It served as a rebel stronghold and has historical significance due to its role in this pivotal event.
What else is close by
The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.
300 m
Prime Minister's Official Residence (Former Prime Minister's Office)
Rebels stormed this 1929 building seeking Prime Minister Okada Keisuke but killed his brother-in-law, Matsuo Denzō, after mistaking him for Okada. The prime minister hid inside for more than a day and escaped among visitors arriving to mourn his supposed death; the historic building was later shifted within the compound and converted into the official residence.
550 m
National Diet Building
The Lockheed scandal became national theater here when Marubeni executives testified before the House of Representatives Budget Committee in February and March 1976. Their denials about coded “peanuts” receipts were later judged to be false testimony, fixing the word “peanuts” in Japan’s political vocabulary as shorthand for covert money.
1.0 km
Takahashi Korekiyo Memorial Park
This quiet garden occupies the grounds of Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo’s residence, where rebel soldiers assassinated him in his upstairs bedroom on February 26, 1936. The house was later moved elsewhere, but the surviving garden and bronze statue make this one of the clearest physical traces of the coup attempt.
1.0 km
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters Site
Rebel troops occupied the police headquarters beside Sakuradamon early on February 26, temporarily neutralizing the civilian force expected to defend the capital. The police leadership rejected proposals for a direct armed counterattack, leaving the army to suppress its own mutiny.
1.2 km
State Guest House Akasaka Palace
Built in 1909 for the crown prince, this lavish neo-Baroque palace demonstrates Meiji Japan's ambition to stand among the world's great powers.
1.3 km
Sakuradamon Gate
The 1620s gate of Edo Castle where in 1860 the shogun's chief minister Ii Naosuke was assassinated in the snow.
Walk it with the stories
This address is one stop among many. Our routes and quests link them into a walk that makes sense on the ground.